A median age of 60.6: Aleu is older than 98% of compared French towns
The figure for flats is 3.5% in Aleu and 30% in the typical compared French town. Roughly one in ten: just over one in ten households are couples with children. Households in social housing are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. The town counted 137 residents and 86 households at the 2023 Census.
Throughout this page, the Ariège median and the France median are the median of compared communes (those with an overall grade), each figure its own median. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
What stands out about the people of Aleu
One home in two is a second home
The census counted 160 second homes and occasional dwellings in Aleu, 64% of its 260 homes: higher than in 99% of compared French towns. 96% of them are houses. Their owners live elsewhere, so they aren’t in the population figures on this page. Homes & cars ↓
An older town
Half of Aleu’s residents are under 60.6 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 39% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 7.7% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Many people living alone
56% of Aleu’s households are one person: higher than in 98% of compared French towns; 36% of residents 65 and over live alone. Households ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
64% of homes are second homes, a share 99% of compared French towns don’t reach
Every home the census counted: main residences, second homes and occasional dwellings (INSEE counts them together), and empty homes. Owning and renting are on Cost of living.
All homes · share of homes
Type of home
Cars per household · share of households
2% of homes stand empty (typical compared French town: 6.7%). The share of second homes in the typical compared French town is 2.1%. Households without a car: 7.9% of the total.
Aleu changed by +2% from 2012 to 2023, behind 60% of compared French towns
Residents at INSEE’s last three censuses, each recast in the 2026 commune boundaries. France has no yearly estimate by commune between censuses.
2012 to 2023
2017 to 2023
Between 2012 and 2017 the population moved −3%, then +5% to 2023.
Aleu ranks below 99% of compared French towns on residents aged 15 to 24: 2.8%
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Aleu 60.6. The median compared French town: 44.
Residents aged 65 and over: 39% here and 22% in the typical compared French town. To put it in context, 11% of residents are 15 to 24 in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
47% women, 53% men
About 112 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Ariège 52.2%, France 51.8%.
One-person households make up 56% in Aleu, more than in 98% of compared French towns
A household is everyone who shares a main home (résidence principale). Household types come from INSEE’s fuller sample of a quarter of census forms.
Against the Ariège median and the France median
Living alone · share
Households here average 1.6 people each. The comparison figure for one-person households is 35% in the typical compared French town. Few places have so few single-parent households: 5.6% here, fewer than in 98% of compared French towns.
Median standard of living: €16,360 a year
The standard of living (niveau de vie) is a household’s disposable income after taxes and benefits, divided by its consumption units (UC) to allow for its size and make-up: 1 for the first adult, 0.5 for each other person 14 or older, 0.3 for each child under 14.
Medians of compared communes. Source: INSEE, Filosofi 2023.
At €16,360 a year per consumption unit, the median standard of living here is lower than in 99% of compared French towns.
Aleu: 56% of households are headed by a retired person, above 99% of compared French towns
Households by the socio-professional group (PCS) of their reference person, INSEE’s own categories. Jobs and commuting are on the Work & commute page.
Households by reference person’s group · share of households
The share of households headed by a manager or professional is 5.6%, against 9.4% in the typical compared French town. The usual figure: nearly a third of households are headed by a retired person in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Aleu sits above 82% of compared French towns for immigrants (13%)
INSEE publishes two measures, which overlap but aren’t the same. Neither is the UK’s “born abroad”.
Share of residents · census 2023
Immigrant (immigré)
Born abroad, not French at birth. Someone stays an immigrant after becoming French. A French citizen born abroad (for example in Algeria before 1962) is not one.
Foreign national (étranger)
Not a French citizen today, wherever born. A child born in France to foreign parents can be a foreign national without being an immigrant.
With foreign nationals at 12%, Aleu is ahead of 87% of compared French towns on that count. The wider picture: 6.5% of residents are immigrants in the typical compared French town.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
31% of residents 15 and over are married, fewer than in 97% of compared French towns
Residents 15 and over by how they live: the census asks both the legal status and whether people live as a couple.
Residents 15 and over · share
The share of single residents stands at 26%. To put it in context, 43% of residents 15 and over are married in the typical compared French town.
In Aleu, 6.1% of adults out of school have no qualification, fewer than in 99% of compared French towns
Highest diploma of residents 15 and over who have left education, in French terms: the levels don’t map one-to-one to UK or U.S. ones.
Highest diploma · 15 and over, out of education
The share of graduates of higher education is 37%, against 30% in the typical compared French town. To put it in context, 19% of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town.
The 4th oldest of 41 French towns of 137 to 2,582 people
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population, by median age. Hover for each one’s second homes and immigrants; click for its page.
Ages run from 37.2 in Villejust to 62.3 in Prayssac.
No nearby town is as old as Aleu
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aleu | 60.6 | 39% | 64% | 13% |
| Saint-Girons 6,008 · 8.6 mi | 51.9 | 33% | 6.7% | 9.1% |
| Tarascon-sur-Ariège 3,085 · 17.3 mi | 51.4 | 32% | 8% | 18% |
| Foix 9,934 · 17.9 mi | 46.8 | 27% | 7.6% | 15% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Census 2023. INSEE’s census is a rolling survey: a fifth of small communes each year, 8% of homes in large ones each year. “2023” pools the surveys of 2021 to 2025, so the figures describe the town around 2023, not on one day.
- Medians of compared communes. The comparisons are the median of the département’s compared communes and of France’s (those with an overall grade), each figure its own median: not the total for the département or for France, which large cities pull towards their own figures.
- Immigrants and foreign nationals. INSEE’s two measures: an immigrant was born abroad without French nationality; a foreign national isn’t French today. Neither is a count of people born abroad, which INSEE doesn’t publish by commune.
- Second homes. Homes used for holidays or weekends, with occasional dwellings (kept for work, for example), which INSEE counts together. Their owners are counted where they live, not here.
- Standard of living. INSEE’s Filosofi: disposable income per consumption unit, from tax and benefit files, 2023. The poverty rate is the share of residents below 60% of France’s median. Not published for the smallest communes.
- What France doesn’t ask. The French census asks nothing about ethnicity, religion, language or health, so this page has no such section.
Questions about who lives in Aleu
What is the population of Aleu?
137 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 2% more than in 2012 (134).
How old are Aleu’s residents?
The median age is 60.6, older than 98% of compared French towns. 7% are under 18 and 39% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Aleu?
160, with occasional dwellings: 64% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Aleu?
INSEE counts 18 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 13% of residents, and 16 foreign nationals (12%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Aleu?
€16,360 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970). Source: INSEE, Filosofi.
Sources: INSEE, census 2023 (population, ages, households, homes, marital status, diplomas, immigrants, foreign nationals, employment), 2026 geography · INSEE, Filosofi 2023 (standard of living, poverty) · IGN Admin Express (boundaries) · Medians and percentiles: TownRatings, over compared French towns, updated October 30, 2026. Under the Licence Ouverte / Open Licence 2.0 (Etalab).
Contains public sector information under the Licence Ouverte / Open Licence 2.0 (Etalab): INSEE, DGFiP, the Interior Ministry’s statistics service (SSMSI), the Ministry of Education (DEPP), the Health Ministry’s statistics service (DREES) and the Housing Ministry (Carte des loyers). Commune boundaries: IGN Admin Express.